Accessibility Standards Every Website Should Follow

Making your website accessible isn’t just a best practice - it’s a necessity. By prioritizing accessibility, you improve the overall user experience for every visitor, including people with disabilities, while also expanding your potential audience.

Here are some accessibility features every website needs to ensure inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.

Adding alt text to images

Alternative text (alt text) plays an essential role for users with visual impairments who depend on screen readers. It offers a written description of images, making it possible to understand their meaning even without seeing them.

Its primary purpose is to describe the content and function of an image for people who cannot see it. This includes:

• Screen reader users (people who are blind or have low vision)
• Users with slow internet connections (where images may not load)
• Search engines, which use alt text to understand and index images

Be sure to add clear and relevant alt text to all images on your website.

Keyboard navigation

A significant number of users with disabilities rely solely on a keyboard to navigate websites. Ensure that all interactive elements like links, buttons, and forms can be accessed using keyboard controls.

Websites should follow a clear tab order and utilize ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks to improve navigation.

Common keys used for navigation include:

• Tab: Moves focus to the next interactive element (link, button, form field).
• Shift + Tab: Moves focus to the previous interactive element.
• Enter / Space: Activates a button, link, or form element.
• Arrow keys: Navigate through menus, sliders, or dropdowns.
• Escape (Esc): Close modal dialogs or menus.

Readable Fonts and Text Sizes

Websites should use fonts that are clear and easy to read, with text sizes large enough for all users. Offering options to adjust text size and ensuring strong contrast between text and background can greatly improve readability for people with visual impairments.

While decorative or cursive fonts might look appealing, they can often be difficult for visitors to read and should be used with caution.

High Contrast Colors

Ever struggled to read white text on a yellow background? Exactly, it’s really hard! That’s why your website should use a color palette with a strong contrast between text and background.

High contrast makes it easier for users with low vision or color blindness to read and understand your content.

Tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker can help you test and optimize your color contrast ratios.

Captions and Transcripts for Multimedia

Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio content. This supports users who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those who prefer reading instead of listening. While many video platforms offer automatic captioning, it’s important to review and edit them to ensure they are accurate.

Even users without hearing impairments may benefit from reading along with audio or video, especially in noisy environments.

Captions and transcripts help people learning a new language follow along more easily and transcripts also provide searchable text for your content, making it easier for search engines to index and for users to find specific information.

Many accessibility regulations, such as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) or WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), require captions or transcripts for multimedia content.

Descriptive Link Text

Links should use clear and specific text that tells users exactly where the link will take them or what action it performs. Avoid ambiguous phrases like “click here” or “read more.” Instead, provide descriptive wording, such as “Download the 2024 Accessibility Report” or “Learn more about our services,” to make navigation easier for all users, including those using screen readers.

People using screen readers often navigate a page by skipping from link to link. Links with vague text like “click here” provide no context, making navigation confusing. Descriptive links allow users to understand the destination or action without reading surrounding content.

Clear link text helps all users, not just those with disabilities, quickly understand where a link will take them. This reduces frustration and improves user experience.

Search engines use link text to understand the content of the linked page. Descriptive links can improve your site’s search engine visibility.

Accessible Forms

Forms are a critical part of websites, used for everything from contact requests to online purchases. If a form isn’t accessible, users with disabilities may be unable to complete it, which can lead to frustration and lost opportunities. Accessible forms benefit:

• Users with visual impairments who rely on screen readers
• Users with motor disabilities who navigate using a keyboard or assistive devices
• Users with cognitive disabilities who benefit from clear instructions and logical structure

ARIA Landmarks and Roles

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks and roles assist screen readers in interpreting the structure and function of various sections on a webpage. By using ARIA attributes to define areas such as navigation, main content, and footers, you make it easier for users relying on assistive technologies to navigate and understand your site. This enhances both usability and accessibility.

Checking your website’s accessibility compliance

Ensuring your website is accessible is crucial, and one practical way to do this is by using Accessibility Checker. This online tool evaluates your website against key accessibility standards and highlights areas that need improvement.

How it works

1. Enter Your URL: Simply input your website’s address into the tool.
2. Automated Analysis: The tool scans your pages for accessibility issues, including missing alt text, insufficient color contrast, improperly labeled form fields, and more.
3. Detailed Reports: You receive a report outlining detected issues, their severity, and suggestions for fixing them.
4. Actionable Recommendations: Each issue comes with guidance on how to resolve it, helping developers and content creators make their website more accessible.

Benefits of Using Accessibility Checker

• Quick Assessment: Instantly identifies potential barriers without needing complex software.
• Compliance Tracking: Helps you ensure your site meets WCAG guidelines and legal accessibility requirements.
• Improved User Experience: Fixing issues uncovered by the tool benefits all users, not just those with disabilities.
• Ongoing Monitoring: You can periodically re-scan your site to catch new accessibility issues as your content evolves.

Using tools like Accessibility Checker is an easy first step toward making your website inclusive and user-friendly for everyone.

Why does accessibility matter?

The Web was built with the intention of being usable by everyone, regardless of their device, software, language, location, or abilities. When this principle is achieved, the Web becomes accessible to people with varying levels of hearing, vision, mobility, and cognitive skills.

For individuals with disabilities, the Web can transform their experience by removing many of the barriers to communication and interaction that exist in the physical world. On the other hand, poorly designed websites, apps, or tools can introduce new obstacles that prevent people from fully engaging online.

That’s why accessibility is crucial for developers and organizations aiming to deliver high-quality digital experiences and ensure their products and services are inclusive to all.